Modern vehicles such as aircraft and space vehicles employ a multitude of sensors and actuators to monitor and react to-various aspects of vehicle performance and integrity. These “multifunctional structures”, “smart structures”, or “health management” devices are often hard-wired to a main controller or other device. Such hard wiring is labor intensive, subject to human error, undesirably increases the weight and complexity of the vehicle, and prone to durability concerns.
To avoid these drawbacks, structurally integrated wiring has recently been developed. These wirings are bonded onto or within the structural components of the vehicle. This minimizes the number of attachment parts and installation steps needed. These wirings also increase the potential for automated processing which reduces the potential for human error.
One area related to structurally integrated wirings that needs further development is an interface connector pad between the structurally integrated wiring and non-structurally integrated wiring. Most “multifunctional structures”, “smart structures”, or health management devices and structurally integrated wirings are in a flat form. As such, it would be desirable to provide an interface connector pad that accommodates the flat configuration of the structurally integrated wiring. It would also be desirable to provide an interface connector pad that is integrated into the structural components of the vehicle so as to increase durability over other traditional connection solutions.